Lago Ranco

I wanted to find a quiet town in the Lake District in southern Chile where I could take it easy and prepare for the long trip home soon. It is now the height of the summer season in this picturesque and charming southern Chile lakeside town. I discover that it also attracts vacationers from the area and from further north. These tourists thrive on party music, loud, in public places until 11:30pm. My fortune was to have a room only two blocks from the electronic amplification. So I could not sleep before about 1am.

After two sleep-deprived nights in the bed & breakfast, I gathered my wits and hired a taxi to deliver me to the one major tourist attraction in the area, Piedra Mesa, a hill with a 2.5-mile gravel road to the top. Here is a panoramic view from the top.

The hazy clouds in these pictures are due primarily to the eruption of the nearby Caulle Volcano.

"Parque Alfonso Brandt, adquirido en arriendo por 90 años en 1972 como motivo de ser destinado a un parque de recreo con fines turísticos y educación. Considerado sagrado y utilizado por la comunidad de Tringlo como Tren Tren, lugar para pedir permiso para el Nguillatun."

"Alfonso Brandt Park, in a rental agreement for 90 years from 1970. A  tourist and educational park. Considered sacred and used by the community of Tringlo as the Tren Tren, place to ask permission for the Nguillatun."

Isla Huapi is one of many small islands in Lago Ranco, but one of the few inhabited by indigenous Mapuche. 

As I continue the forest trail around this sacred mountain, I face directly into the eruption of Caulle, though several kilometers to the west. My sinuses were reacting as if I were in an enclosed room with tobacco smokers.

Continuing on the well maintained mountain-top forest trail

Farms down below

I will make the return trip by walking the entire descent on a gravel road. Yuck. Once I reached lake level, there was a breeze that was clearing the air of volcanic ash.